London “Tube” Map Featured on Jan. 2009 British Design Series

London "Tube" Map, Jan. 2009

United Kingdom 2009-01-13

A single First Class rate stamp featuring the Harry Beck designed “London Underground Map” was featured as part of the British Design Classics, issued by Royal Mail on January 13, 2009. The first “Tube” map was designed in 1931 by Beck, an Underground employee, with the concept being based on an electrical diagram. Beck continued to create maps for the London Underground until 1960. [ subway maps for other cities are often draw using a similar style. does anyone know of any other subway map stamps? –web admin]

Outer Islands of Indonesia Sheet

On November 10, 2008 Indonesia Post issued a set of stamps depicting various small and outer islands “Pulau-pulau Kecil Terluar / The Small Outermost Islands” in the Indonesian chain of islands. The stamps feature a photograph of the island, and a locator map. A full sheet of stamps,

Indonesia 2009-11-10

Indonesia 2008-11-10

shown above, contains 16 stamps in four sets for four different designs. In the center of the full sheet is a large detailed map of Indonesia with the names of many of the outter islands, and red lines indicating which islands are shown in the stamps. A smaller size sheet containg only the 16 stamps without the large center map was also issued. The detailed map in the center of the full sheet will be of keen interest to fellow CartoPhilatelists.

Republic of Latvia Marks 90th Anniversary

Latvia 2008-11-07

Latvia 2008-11-07

On November 7, 2008 Latvian Post issued a single stamp that commemorates the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Latvia on November 18, 1918. The stamp shows the Latvian Coat of Arms overlaid on the national flag in the shape of the country boundary. This issue of 500,000 stamps is printed in sheets of ten by Cartor Security Printing.

Belarus: Struve Geodetic Arc Souvenir Sheet

Belarus_2007-12-16

Russia, 1964 Struve Death Centenial

Here is an interesting souvenir sheet, shown below, issued by Belarus on December 16, 2007. The single stamp souvenir sheet commemorates the Struve Geodetic Arc, a project lasting from 1816-1855 by German-born Russian scientist Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve to determine the exact size and shape of the Earth. The original arc consisted of 258 triangulations with 265 station points. The arc passed through 10 countries and extended over 2800km, stretching from Norway to the Black Sea. Today, 34 of the original station points have been designated as a World Heritage Site. In 1964 Russia issued a stamp, shown on the right, marking the centenary of Struve’s death in 1894. [ while researching this sheet, a lot of interesting history and web sites are available. one such site is dedicated to World Cultural Heritage as shown on stamps. ]

Spain: Series on Earth and Space Sciences

Spain 2006-07-13

On July 13th, 2006, Spain’s Postal Service, Correos, issued two stamps which appear to be the start of a series dealing with Earth and space sciences. A very representative cartophilatelic issue showing a detailed 1:200,000 scale topographic of Toledo and the surrounding region is shown along with a magnifying glass. You can read more about this new Spanish series on the Correos web site.

Canada: National Atlas Celebrates 100 Years of Mapping

Canada 2006-06-30 (single)

On June 30th, 2006, Canada Post will issue a new stamp to mark the 100th anniversary of the National Atlas of Canada. The new stamp shows geographer James White (1863 – 1909) who is considered to be the father of what become The Atlas of Canada. The stamp was issued on June 30, 2006 but was unveiled Monday June 19th at the GeoTec/CCA conference in Ottawa. You can read more about the stamp in the Canada Post press release, and in the archived  Natural Resources Canada announcement. The Atlas Celebration web site is also worth a look.  The sheet design features two groupings of eight stamps with a number of surrounding mapping and surveying related images.  This may well be one of the finest cartophilatelic issues in recent years!

Canada 2006-06-30 (pane)